Chapter 10

Chapter 10 — The Night of the Party

Saturday — 2:00 p.m. — Seo-jun's House

The four friends sat around Seo-jun's desk.

Nobody had spoken for several minutes.

The unknown message was still on Seo-jun's phone.

UNKNOWN: And don't go back to Soo-ah's house.

Han-seok finally broke the silence.

“We're definitely going back.”

Miho looked at him.

“Are you trying to get us into trouble?”

Han-seok shook his head.

“No. I'm trying to figure out who's threatening us.”

Seo-jun looked at the message again.

“They know we're investigating.”

Me-yongi quietly asked,

“But how?”

Nobody answered.

Miho suddenly looked at the table.

“The party.”

Seo-jun looked at her.

“What about it?”

“Soo-ah sent me that message before the party.”

She opened her phone.

“Maybe someone at the party knew something.”

Han-seok nodded.

“Then we should talk to everyone who was there.”

Seo-jun stood up.

“Let's make a list.”

Miho took out a notebook.

“First, we need to remember who was with Soo-ah.”

She wrote down the names.

“One by one.”

3:00 p.m. — Seo-jun's House

They went through everything they could remember.

Who arrived first.

Who left early.

Who talked to Soo-ah.

Who saw her before the party ended.

But there was one problem.

Nobody could remember exactly where Soo-ah had been during the last part of the evening.

Miho frowned.

“That's strange.”

Han-seok looked at her.

“What?”

“We all remember seeing her earlier.”

Seo-jun nodded.

“But not later.”

Me-yongi looked at the list.

“Maybe she left before anyone noticed.”

Seo-jun shook his head.

“No. She told Miho she'd talk to her at the party.”

Miho looked down.

“And she never did.”

Silence filled the room.

Han-seok suddenly pointed at the list.

“Wait.”

Everyone looked at him.

“There was someone who saw Soo-ah that night.”

Seo-jun frowned.

“Who?”

Han-seok thought for a moment.

“The person who was standing near the entrance.”

Miho looked confused.

“I don't remember.”

“I do.”

Han-seok leaned back.

“They were talking to Soo-ah.”

Seo-jun's expression changed.

“Do you remember who it was?”

Han-seok shook his head.

“No.”

Miho sighed.

“That's helpful.”

“I know,” Han-seok replied.

4:10 p.m.

Seo-jun's phone buzzed again.

Everyone looked at him.

He checked the screen.

This time, it wasn't an unknown number.

It was a message from one of the students who had attended the party.

STUDENT: You asked about Soo-ah?

Seo-jun replied:

SEO-JUN: Yes. Did you see her that night?

The reply came quickly.

STUDENT: I saw her talking to someone.

Seo-jun sat up straight.

SEO-JUN: Who?

There was a long pause.

Then:

STUDENT: I don't know.

Han-seok groaned.

“Seriously?”

Another message appeared.

STUDENT: But I remember one thing.

Miho leaned closer to the phone.

MIHO: What?

The reply came.

STUDENT: Soo-ah looked worried.

The four friends exchanged glances.

Seo-jun typed:

SEO-JUN: When was this?

The answer came almost immediately.

STUDENT: Around 8:30.

Seo-jun looked at Miho.

“That was before she sent you the message.”

Miho nodded slowly.

“So she was already worried.”

Me-yongi looked at the screen.

“Maybe that's what she wanted to tell you.”

Nobody spoke.

Then the student sent one final message.

STUDENT: Actually… I think I remember who she was talking to.

Seo-jun's eyes widened.

Before he could reply—

The message disappeared.

Message deleted.

Everyone froze.

Han-seok stared at the screen.

“You've got to be kidding me.”

Seo-jun looked at Miho.

“Someone deleted it.”

Miho's expression became serious.

“But how?”

Nobody knew.

Seo-jun slowly put his phone down.

Whatever had happened that night…

Someone clearly didn't want them to remember it.

And they were getting closer to the truth.

Without realizing it, they had just taken their first step toward finding out what Soo-ah had wanted to tell Miho that night.

To be continued…